Question:As bankers we always here about Fair Lending and “redlining”. What factors are considered in a redlining review?

Answer:Typically, since the relining review isn’t completely specific in exactly what is reviewed by regulators during the course of the redlining review, we strongly encourage your monitoring and audit to evaluate whether the bank's lending in majority-minority tracts is similar to that of other lenders in the reasonably expected market area. However, a full review of the bank's practices and processes in the lending department is necessary to determine whether a problem exists.As noted in the regulators procedures, other potential risk factors for redlining include:

Irregularly shaped Community Reinvestment Act assessment areas that fail to comply with Regulation BB and that exclude minority areas;

Branching strategies and expansion plans that are unfavorable to minority neighborhoods;